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Development Deal: Avengers Academy

If there’s one thing that a quick look at the current state of television and movies will tell you, it’s that there’s not much need for original ideas when there’s so much out there ready and waiting to be adapted, updated or just outright ripped off. That’s why we’ve decided to help in that process with a series that offers up some of the things we’d like to see being brought to big screen or small. This week’s suggestion? Avengers Academy.

What Is It?
One of Marvel’s increasing attempts at creating a “Junior Avengers” comic book, Avengers Academy had two high concepts, with the second hidden quietly inside the first. The most obvious of the two was “What if the Avengers set up a school to train the superheroes of tomorrow?” which, when it comes down to it, makes a lot of sense when you consider the kinds of things that super-powered folk are able to do in the Marvel Universe. The “secret” high concept was the the kids being trained were actually being trained because the Avengers were worried that each of them had the potential to grow up to become a supervillain if they’re not given the appropriate moral guidance right now.

It’s really the stereotypical teenager experience writ large: Just as you’re figuring out who you are, the adults in your life are convinced that, unless you listen to them, you’re going to make the wrong decisions and go down a bad path. Except, this time, there’s super-powers and costumes and punching.

What Could It Be?
Hey, ABC Family: This is the Marvel TV show that you’ve been looking for. Not only is it essentially just a high-school drama (albeit in a very unusual high-school), offering the chance for the traditional and untraditional plots and characters that come with that genre – as well as an in-built reason/excuse to cycle characters and actors in and out of the show as desired (or necessary), but it’s also got an in-built connection to the Marvel Cinematic Universe and Avengers movie franchise. Simply retool the set-up slightly to make it that the school is the result of S.H.I.E.L.D. widening their “Avengers Initiative” in the wake of the team’s saving the world in the first movie – and, let’s say, an increasing number of super-powered people appearing around the world for mysterious reasons, giving the first season a mythology/mystery to center itself around when necessary – and play up the “future threat” and down the current power-set elements to save on special effects and budget, and you have a ready-made series right there waiting for you.

(If you’re looking for a pitch, think of it as “A high-school full of Buffys that takes place in the Avengers world.” See? Simple.)

As far as choosing people to shepherd it into the world, I’d be tempted to see if Melissa Rosenberg – who has experience with the Marvel Universe, having developed Alias for ABC a couple of years ago – would be interested to serve as showrunner. After all, if her experience as screenwriter for the Twilight movies didn’t give her enough background with troubled teens in unusual situations, she always has her background on The OC to fall back on…

So, how about it, ABC Family and Marvel? Could this be the show that you’re looking for (Just imagine the potential crossovers with ABC’s SHIELD should both shows get picked up!)?

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Comments

This article is entirely hypothetical but the headline states “development deal” as statement, not question. Very misleading and not up to the standard that I have come to expect from this site.

Chris Deneen

It would cost way too much to develop Avengers Academy as a TV show. Without any of the actual movie Avengers showing up in it i doubt it would catch on even if it’s a considered a part of the Marvel movie universe. The characters aren’t well known enough and the cost of special FX would be insane.

http://twitter.com/Tev Tev

Out of the original Academy kids: Finesse, Veil, Reptil, Mettle, and Hazmat
Finesse is basically just a martial artist
Veil and Hazmat’s powers would be fairly cheap to produce
Mettle would just be a guy in make up.
Reptil would be the most expensive to produce, although certainly possible.

Hey, if Buffy and a bunch of other shows can do it, Disney can.

matt

I think it would work amazingly as a cartoon in the vein of young justice.

Pocketmego1

I think “Wolverine and The X-Men” does this set and is way more fun. I’d love to see that as a show. Probably minus Wolverine. X-Men Academy? And hey look…it’s already a school.

demoncat_4

given how the avengers film made billions odds are dis marvel will proably sooner or later to keep the franchise fresh look at this thing. though have to agree it would work better as a tv show but would cost a lot to duplicate the kids powers each week. no doubt sooner or later Avengers academy will gets its shot in the spotlight either on the big or small screen.

http://twitter.com/Arthurknight Michael J

I was tricked into coming here.Damn you!!!!!

Flip Maker

Dude, seriously? Graeme’s run these articles for months, there’s nothing misleading about the article and I love how you can’t even be bothered to comment on the article, rather you’d just like to bitch. Get off the Internet, Guest. You’re a waste of bandwidth.

As for the idea, Avengers Academy on TV? GREAT idea and good thinking, Graeme.

syvyn11

So in two seasons, it will transform into a Avengers Arena series?

AA is one of the crappiest series out there now.

http://twitter.com/SongbirdDiamond S/D

I say they should roll the Young Avengers and Avengers Academy characters into one show. Hell, even have Miles Morales the main character. Marvel could easily pull this off and make it popular.

http://twitter.com/SongbirdDiamond S/D

That’s the problem with X-Men. Wolverine will overshadow everything instantly.
That, and if Quinten Quire is a main character in a show, I would avoid it like the plague!

Another Waste of Bandwidth

Sorry, dude, but not everyone follows Graeme’s editorials (which is really what they are) and an article title that leads with “Development Deal” is in fact very misleading. But that’s how Graeme draws attention to his unsolicited opinions, so this is just par for the course.

Also, the OP did comment on the article, by calling it misleading. And given how unnecessarily rude your response was to him, I think it’s probably better that he didn’t say anything more, as his opinion is obviously not welcome.

Guest

Huh, interesting stuff. I like the comparison to Buffy.

Any plans to do more of these in the future? I like the concept, since I like to imagine how various superheroes would work on the big/small screens too.

oscarvenezuela

they don´t have to be limited to the real avengers academy cast. they could introduce X-23, the scarlet witch, quicksilver, tygra, vision, wonder man, iron fist, and maybe hercules to give it an all-around marvel appeal, mutants, gods, and all time avengers. a cool mix. and a wolverine factor with laura. with smaller scale villains, moses magnus, arcade, even the hellfire club, mixed with bigger scale ones for the finales, like hella, and ultron. it would just kick ass

NYcomicman

The teens with powers BUT not using to many effects to show powers is perfectly displayed on the BBC’s Misfits

Guest

This could be a great series if it was handled correctly… though I know they would have to change up some of the story a bit, because Hank Pym wouldn’t be able to be the head of the school, but that could be easily fixed by just writing up an entirely new character that could be a substitute for the Pym character. This could be a really cool series, there’s lots of drama, action, and myster in the comics that could lend it self to the tv series, if it ever happened.

Guest

Avengers Arena isn’t the crappiest series out there. It’s actually pretty good, and I highly doubt that if Academy got turned into a TV series it would use Arena. Academy would probably avoid using Arena and just go off and be its own thing…. unless the producers wanted to add the arena twist and give the show a lot of action and depth…. but they wouldn’t be able to do that because from what I hear Runaways will be a movie in the near future, and X-23 is probably owned by FOX….

TheRealTimewarp

Besides I thought it took a while before Reptil could even fully morph into dinosaurs.

TheRealTimewarp

If I was making this show I’d take a few liberties with the storyline to make it fit into the MCU. I’d make Baron Von Strucker the person who abused the kids in the first place instead of Norman Osborn (We’ve seen already what his done to Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch) and I’d have a slightly different group of people helping them. I’d stick with Henry Pym as the headmaster but I’d go with Agent Koening instead of Jocasta basically making him an android that’s similar in design.

The problem is the teachers though. Tigra and Justice haven’t been introduced to the MCU yet although I guess you could introduce them here, Speedball makes more sense as a student but guys like Quicksilver and Hawkeye couldn’t appear as it cost to much to have Jeremy Renner and Aaron Taylor-Johnson on the show. Also Jeremy Briggs needs to appear at one point as a major antagonist of the characters.